Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Potentials of Marine Pyrrole-2-Aminoimidazole Alkaloids and their Synthetic Analogs

Pyrrole-2-aminoimidazole compounds are found in marine organisms, mainly as secondary metabolites in various marine sponges. Studies of natural pyrrole-2-aminoimidazole compounds showed that they possess different pharmacological properties, such as antimicrobial, antibiofilm, immunosuppressive and anticancer activities. Many analogs of the natural compounds have been synthesized to improve their biological activities. This review focuses on the antibacterial and antibiofilm potentials of natural pyrrole-2-aminoimidazoles and their synthetic analogs and derivatives, as well as on the structure-activity relationships of the most promising compounds. Known molecular targets of these compounds in bacterial cells are also described here, as is the synergistic activity of the pyrrole-2-aminoimidazoles and conventional antibiotics.